The present invention concerns a rail system for drawers, comprising a carcass rail to be fastened to a furniture carcass and at least one drawer rail movable relative to the carcass rail, and at least one rack arranged on a rail of the rail system.
The invention further concerns an arrangement of two rail systems of the kind to be described, which are to be mounted at opposite side walls of an article of furniture and which are connected together for the transmission of a synchronous movement by way of a synchronisation bar.
Such rail systems are usually employed to synchronize the movement of two drawer extension guides which are in opposite relationship on an article of furniture, relative to each other, by a rack-and-pinion arrangement. That permits precise parallel guidance of an extendable furniture part—in particular of a drawer. That parallel guidance relative to a furniture carcass is advantageous in particular when very narrow or very wide drawers are to be moved, in which case lateral tilting of the drawer is substantially prevented by the parallel guidance effect. The movement of the oppositely disposed rail systems is frequently synchronized by way of a synchronization bar extending transversely to the extension direction. Mounted at both end regions of the synchronization bar are pinions which respectively engage into the racks of the rail systems to be synchronized. EP 1 036 526 B1 discloses such a parallel guide assembly having a rack-and-pinion arrangement. With known rail systems, the positively locking connection between the rack and the pinion can lead to jamming of the rail system and thus unwanted blocking of the drawer in normal use.
DE 43 01 326 A1 describes a drawer extension arrangement, wherein toothed racks are mounted movably on the carcass rail and the drawer rail so that they can project freely over their length from the respective fastening end. The flexural axis of the rack extends in that case substantially at a right angle to the extension direction of the rails.
The object of the present invention is to propose a rail system of the general kind set forth above, having improved running properties.